Adventures to Be Had
by Summer Blossom
Summary: The tale in which Shovel and Pail meet, and the tales afterward.


Adventures to Be Had

Summery: The tale in which Shovel and Pail meet, a tale whilst in an adventure.

Shovel stood outside, lying down as he observed the clouds. Some were shaped as trees, while others floated by as flowers. However, one came upon him as a striking resemblance to his best friend in the whole world, Pail. His thought traveled back to when they first played, their whole story playing in his mind like a movie.

* * *

Shovel stood in the sandbox as his owner played with him. "What do you think of this?" the 4-year-old named Matt asked him, pointing to his small sandcastles. Since Matt had lost his sandcastles-making-material, he had resorted to using another kid's equipment, one the required the use of a red pail, named Pail. (Pail's owner didn't have the biggest imagination or creativity.) "I think it looks great!" the yellow digging tool said, smiling brightly to show that he wasn't lying to Matt. Matt grinned, picking up Shovel to pack down the dirt in Pail. It was during this time that Shovel and Pail first spoke to each other.

"Hi, I'm Shovel."

"Hey there, I'm Pail."

Soon after that, they were talking non-stop, with regular inputs from Matt, who loved the conversation. The topics ranged from cars, to planes, to even where they came from. Both toys agreed on the fact that they could not remember where they came from. Even Matt admitted that he could only remember Shovel from the day that his mommy bought it for him. Despite all this, the three of them had a great deal of fun that day, and they were all sad when they had to depart, Matt with Shovel, and Pail with her owner, who was named Emily.

The next day, they met again, and the whole routine happened again. This continued for the whole summer, and the things they talked about varied from their friends to their family to what they enjoyed to do. Matt and Emily quickly became best friends. Shovel would have become lonely, had it not been for Pail, who kept him entertained with her travels. Thought she could remember where she was from, she could easily remember where she went after, and she showered Shovel (try saying that 3 times fast) with her stories of her in New York and Paris, what she had done there, and all the friends she had made. Shovel envied Pail in so many ways, but at the same time, couldn't wait to hear what she had done next when she was trapped in that baby's room for a full week, or when she had been on the Statue of Liberty.

"What happened next?" he asked, captivated.

"She told me she was a famous painter!"

"No way!"

That would be the majority of the conversation. Pail would say something shocking or amazing or beautiful, and Shovel would be gravitated to her. Sometimes, she would leave him on a cliff hanger, and Shovel would have to wait until the next time they saw each other to find out the end. It was all like a fantastic TV show, and he would have to tune in next time to figure out what happened next. There would be times where Pail would ask Shovel about his life, and he would feel shy and embarrassed to say anything because he didn't have any cool adventures to tell her. He hadn't been to Rome or Spain, or any different place. The only even remotely awesome place he had been to was the aquarium, where he had seen a dolphin up close. It had been the highlight of last summer, and he was glad to share it with Matt.

Soon, however, summer had ended, and Matt found out that Emily was going to move to the other side of town. They wouldn't be able to see each other anymore because both of their parents were very busy and wouldn't be able to take them to visit each other. Of course, this made Shovel and Pail very sad, as they had become as close as brothers and sisters. At the last visit to the playground, they had a tearful goodbye, and when they departed, Shovel felt as sad as the rain falling that day. When Shovel came home, he wouldn't speak, not with the other toys, not even with Matt, who pretty under the weather too.

Months passed, and Shovel didn't feel quite as sad as before, thought he still missed and craved Pail's companionship. There wasn't a day that went by that Shovel didn't miss Pail or her stories. He would look out the window and occasionally catch a flash of red. He would smile and automatically call out, only to find out that it wasn't Pail at all, and it would be an umbrella or a pair of bright pants. At times, he would try to distract himself from the loneliness he had, and he would retell the stories Pail had told him, in the same adventurous tone of voice she had while telling him. In fact, those stories, the same ones that made him miss Pail the most, also helped him through the hard days the most. He would imagine himself in Pail's place, traveling through the beaches in Brazil and France. His dreams would typically display him and Pail in different adventures and situations. Those were the dreams that made him smile the most.

Eventually, Matt became too old to play with Shovel, and he was neglected time and time again for another toy more advanced, like the laptop he got for his 15th birthday, However, Shovel wasn't completely forgotten, and he saw Matt smile in fondness as he remembered the fun times at the playground. Nostalgia wasn't enough for Matt, however, and he reluctantly put away Shovel in his box for the garage sale his family held. As he was taken to the front yard, Shovel silently cried a little, but as always, thought of this as another adventure he was having with Pail, who he could still clearly remember, even thought years had passed since that last day at the playground. He thought about Emily, and what she and Pail had been up to. He wondered if Pail had been up to anything exciting. Most importantly, he wondered if Pail even remembered who he was, let alone how he looked like.

Suddenly, he saw a young man in his 20s pick him up and studied him. "Perfect. You'll be great with my other friend." Shovel smiled a little. He missed having a friend, though no-one could possibly take Pail's place. As he got into the bus with his new owner, he thought of Emily. Did you get anybody new? Had she grown too old for Pail too, or was he the only one? The sinking feeling he felt reminded him if how nervous he was. Was the other friend nice, or was he mean? Shovel didn't have any time to think these questions through, because they arrived home pretty fast.

Shovel quickly learned everybody's names. There was Blue, a dog with blue dots and a fondness for the colour blue, Salt and Pepper, their kids, and plenty more. And while they were all very nice and wonderful to him (they threw him a party with cake and balloons) he could only think about the special friend his owner (his name was Steve, it turns out) talked about. At last, the party ended and was brought to the backyard.

The minute he saw Pail, in the same looking sandbox where they met all those years ago, he didn't waste anytime rushing to her. There were tears shed (happy tears, that is) and stories to be told. For the rest of the day, and the rest of the week as matter of fact, they were inseparable. Turns out, Pail had gone to Greece for a few weeks, and was dying to tell the stories she had, but nobody had the time to listen to her. Shovel reassured her that he was all ears. Truth was, after years of not having any stories, he was starving to hear them. He was glad to have somebody listen to him too, and they traded information on what happened. Emily had grown tired of Pail, and donated her to a children's center, where a friend of Steve's found her and gave her to him as a gift.

Steve's childhood state-of-being never made him grow completely up, and he enjoyed the simple things in life as to worrying about every little thing. And while he would go to college, that wasn't for a very long time, so Shovel and Pail had plenty of tales to have and to tell. Soon, everybody wanted to know about their life, and while they would tell them stories, they would save the really exciting stuff for themselves. They weren't being selfish; it was just that this was a thing shared just between themselves. When Joe DID come around, they weren't replaced like they feared they would be. Instead, Joe took them in with open arms, and the adventures they had together continued.

Pail and Shovel made a promise to each other the last day they saw each other at the playground. They promised to each other that one way or another, their experiences in life would bring them back. It wasn't a spoken promise, like most promises were. No, each said this promise in their mind, unbeknown-st to the other. And while each held hope, none could imagine that this little friendship could shape their lives like the way they did, even as it played like a movie in Shovel's mind.

A/N: I doubt people are going to review, since not that many people come to this section. However, if you can, please review. I wanted to write a story like this because of the ridiculous amount of parodies here.


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